Two weeks ago, I finally got myself the new Pixel phone. While evaluating the multiple phones I was considering, I found that most of the reviews online were written by professional reviewers, so I thought to write up my thoughts on the process to my purchase.
My previous phone was a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It is a great phone with an outstanding camera, but the lack of software updates has been a constant issue for me, and in recent times, the size was something that I had issues with. However, this was my first flagship phone ever, and the experience let me to decide that all my primary phones hereafter should be flagship-grade.
The phones that I considered were the Galaxy S9, The iPhone XS, and the OnePlus 6T.
My key priorities were:
- OS upgrades
- Camera
- Battery Life
- Size and Feel
In examining the S9, the feel of the phone was amazing, as was the display. The phone is a little bulkier than I would like, but the real deal-killer was the software. My Note 8 is still running Android 7.1.1 at the fag-end of 2018. The S9 is shipping with 8.0 Oreo. Though Samsung rolled out the Oreo update for Note 8s in Europe and the USA in early 2018, they haven’t done so in India, this is odd, and somewhat reminiscent of Samsung’s earlier practice of dumping lower-spec phones in India – a practice that they still seem to pursue with the Snapdragon/Exynos variants. I think it’s asinine to pay top dollar for a phone that will not receive even a single OS update. Given that I work in compliance, device security is a priority for me – security patches need to be prompt, something that Samsung has failed at.
The iPhone XS is amazing in terms of camera, display, and performance. It seemed like the perfect time for me to switch to Apple, but given that the cheapest XS costs over INR 100,000 (USD 1,430) in India and the other issues around paying for storage, the compatibility of multiple work-related apps, I decided that the moment wasn’t ripe for this transition.
The OnePlus, frankly, was a bit of a disappointment. For all the hype, the Camera is quite passe. The so-called blazing pace is more a factor of the 8GB RAM rather than an efficient OS, and was still sluggish on the display pieces that I looked at. The interface is as cluttered as Samsung’s, and it comes bundled with the usual bloatware. I will buy a One Plus phone at some point, but that would be just so that I can install the Lineage OS ROM for specialized features and apps requiring root access.
The Pixel 3 was impressive.
Despite having just 4 GB RAM, the phone was blazing fast, and the interface a joy. To be fair, I used the Moto G (2015) between June 2015 and May 2017, and prefer the stock Android experience. Coming from there, both One Plus and Samsung interfaces were too cluttered, busy, or crowded. Compared side-by-side at a Croma store in Gurgaon, the Pixel 3’s camera outperformed the Note 9. The irritating thing about the Samsung Camera is its in-built beauty mode that subtly turns human subjects into wax dolls by smoothing over skin textures – an option that cannot be disabled. Even the OnePlus 6T, despite what its fans will proclaim didn’t come close in performance and output.
While I was still mulling my choices, the #PixelPowerUps offer emerged, allowing me to purchase the 128GB Pixel 3 from Flipkart for about INR 15,000 off the sticker price. I bought it.
I decided on the 128 GB model with an eye to the future. My 64 GB Note 8, despite being used for just about a year, has only 2 GB of space left, with most content on it being photos and 4k video that I’m shooting for a social media channel. The Pixel 3 comes with unlimited cloud storage for all Pixel phone content generated until 31 January 2022. Photos and Videos are stored in their original resolution.
What was particularly encouraging is that the first line of Pixel phones, released in 2016, have received the Pie OS update. Pixel 2 phones from 2017 received the camera software updates. I’m hoping that such updates endure, and I can use the phone for at least three years.
It’s software features aside, the phone’s design is fantastic.
Though the Pixel 3 is an all-glass phone, it follows the design language introduced with the first Pixel phone, with the two-tone back and dual front-facing speakers. I’m very happy with the phone’s size. I’ve always been disdainful of this obsession with screen size which compromises both battery life and the general handiness of the device. I still think the iPhone SE has the perfect proportions, and would have probably switched to Apple this year if they had refreshed the model with a faster processor and a nicer camera. The Pixel 3 feels perfect in my hand and nestles firmly between my palm and the top crease of my fingers. Of course, in the interest of preserving this phone for the next three years that I plan to use it for, I’m using the Spigen case from Amazon.com. This case has some heft to it, but will provide some protection for the three times a year that I seem to drop my phones.
Several online reviews have multiple points of criticism for this phone. The first regards memory management where apps are closed by the OS to conserve memory. Perhaps this has already been patched, but I faced no latency issues at all. To be fair, I have not been using any memory intensive apps or games.
Another criticism that was almost a deal breaker for me is the issue with the camera. Apparently, the camera fails to work properly when used through other apps. This is true. I had issues using the camera via the PayTM app and through Instagram. The latter is not really a problem, since I rarely take pictures through Instagram, and typically post pictures that I have already shot, filtered, and cropped. Google has promised to fix this issue in a subsequent update, and I generally consider them to be more honest than Samsung in such matters. However, if you’re planning to use a third party camera app, or use a work-related app that needs to access the camera, please ensure that this issue is resolved before you buy it.
In summary, if you’re in the market for an android Phone, and would like a long-lived device with an outstanding camera, the Pixel 3 is for you.
Zudik.com 